Wire cage installed at Huwwara checkpoint

Tuesday November 13, 2007 23:25 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC

Israeli forces have installed wire caging material at the notorious Huwwara checkpoint, located near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, creating a ‘checkpoint within a checkpoint’ that has doubled the waiting time for Palestinians trying to pass through.

A report published by the nonviolent anti-occupation group, the International Solidarity Movement, claims that the fencing was installed over the weekend and that 300-350 Palestinians civilians were on Saturday made to wait for some three hours or more to pass through the checkpoint.

The timing of the added construction coincided with the return of many university students to their homes outside of Nablus, as well as the return home of those who had gone to Nablus for shopping and other needs.

The Huwwara checkpoint controlling exit from Nablus is notorious for long lines and hours-long delays, particularly on holidays. This roofed and turnstiled checkpoint, in place since the start of the current Intifada, governs traffic flowing to Ramallah, as well as to the many nearby villages outside Nablus.
University students, workers, and people seeking medical treatment or coming for shopping must cross Huwwara, many on a daily basis.

The passage through the checkpoint normally takes at least an hour, but with the installation of the new wire passing has been slowed to a snail's pace.

nablus | human rights | news report saed at imemc dot org